Sunday, November 24, 2002 :::
I've been reading "Guns, Germs and Steel". It's interesting, and so far I only have two complaints.
One is that it carries a quote on the back from the infamous Paul Ehrlich. Ehrlich seems more pleased by the conclusions the book comes to than by their accuracy ("demolishes the grounds for racist theories of history"), which is hardly a surprise. Even if I hadn't read what he said, though, his connection to the book would keep me wary while reading it.
Jared Diamond (the author) has written at least once in the part I've read that certain racist conclusions would be not only "loathsome, but also... wrong." He backs this up well, and as far as I can tell, he doesn't let his biases about what ought to be interfere with his conclusions about what is.
Aside from Ehrlich's endorsement, my only objection so far is that he has dubbed a period of widespread human advancement, about 50,000 years ago, the "Great Leap Forward". Is it possible to use that phrase without evoking Mao? It must be, for Diamond.
::: posted by Steven at 10:33 AM
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